 |
| Earl Gillespie |
"Adrift in a sea of splits and confusion"
Part #1 of 6
2 Timothy 2:14-16, of these
things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive
not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers. Study to
shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for
they will increase unto more ungodliness.
There are those whom we have
designated as role models, it is not always clear as to who or what criteria is
used to make this designation, but there are a couple of things that stands out,
role models must be about making money, they must be inaccessible to their
adoring public and the media must seek them out for exposure. When young
men and women see the athletics making a profane amount of money and performing
for the national media, it fueled an insatiable desire to be like Mike. The music industry also stepped up the pace
for selecting role models that tarnishes the minds of the younger
generations. Even the drug dealers and
gang leaders in our crime infested neighborhoods became a role model. The devil observing all of this with a
smiling demure concluded that it would be great if he could do the same for the
church. Preachers began to learn the
technique of becoming a role model. The
problem with this is, Jesus was not accepted as a role model by the population
at large, he was crucified. It would
take a special person to want to follow in the footsteps of a person who was
crucified.
When Christianity began to
flourish during its early day it became the primary focus of the devil to
destroy the church. When the
destruction of the church through persecution failed under Roman rule, the
devil resorted to his old strategy, he would infiltrate the church and
destroy it from within. To achieve this,
the devil would rely on the same technique he used when he infiltrated the Garden of Eden. Please note, he was successful then, but it
proved to be unsuccessful when he tried the same trick with Jesus on the
mountain. Matthew 4:8-9 Again, the devil taketh him up into an
exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the
glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou
wilt fall down and worship me. The
devil’s plan to destroy the church was to offer the Christians through a
message of earthly prosperity and favors all of the things he offered Jesus. To accept the devil’s offer the church began
the process of changing the Word of God.
With the evolution of these
changes the churches and the pastors that Jesus ordained, became rich and adrift
in a sea of splits and confusion. In the
Book of Revelation, Jesus condemns the same church that he founded through the shedding
of his precious blood. Revelation 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased
with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched,
and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
When I was young, Sunday was a
wonderful day, that first day of the week when we would go to church and sit in
solemn repose, hearing, contemplating and meditating on the Word of God. Our faith and our hope were simple; it was
based upon John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life”. As the interpretation
of the Bible began to evolve, we began to hear many reports of the things we
were doing were wrong. John 8:32 said, “And
ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”. With the changing interpretation of the Bible,
a conflict within the rank and file members of Christianity began to emerge as
we were constantly reminded that the Word of God never changes. Naturally, the question began to evolve as to
what is the truth and with that evolution many came forward as the possessors
of the truth. Biblical truths began to
contradict Bible truths and each truth sprouted its own denomination. The battle of the denominations peaked with
splits resulting in more splits and church shopping became a new way of finding
God. Preachers would bust up churches
and members would often leave one church in search of another. This was the age of the proliferation of the
churches and the Word of God. In my
younger days the truth was simple. Going
to church was about our struggle to obtain eternal life for the spiritual soul. It was about believing in God. There was no promise of earthly richness and glory;
these things were left to our proclivity.
The promise was simple, everlasting life, Heaven or Hell.
During the week we worked or went
to school to survive or to learn how to survive in the natural world, then on
Sunday we went to church to learn about the spiritual world. Emphases were placed on the fact that we were
going to leave this place, ready or not.
As Jesus indicated, there was or is a gulf that separates the two worlds
and as long as we maintained that separation serving God was simple and
refreshing. To sustain our belief we
believed in the natural world and we believed in the spirit world. During the old days believing in a spiritual
God was easy, we believed in God, we believed in ghost and we believed in Santa
Claus. Today our belief in ghost and
Santa Claus has been cast aside and the belief in God is being tested. Men have turned the Word of God into a
corporation or big business where profits are the main goal and not salvation.
The charlatans devised schemes to
fleece the sheep of God’s pasture. Rock-star preachers hiding behind the sacred
cloak of the Word of God, according to Romans 1:25, “Who changed the truth of
God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature (earthly goods) more than
the Creator (God and salvation), who is blessed forever. Amen”. They
came forth with messages that soothe the spirit and the God of our salvation
emerged as a loving and giving God. Once the churches became contented with the
Lord giving out conflicting messages every Sunday it became easy to lead the
followers down the wrong path. When the
messenger of today stands before those who have been indoctrinated in the Word
of God and proclaim they have a message from God, the congregation is ‘awed’
into submission. Emotions play an
important part in these messages and these emotions are defined as the spirit
of God. As the church moves into the
creative entertainment phase of spiritual worship, the emotional outburst that
once was common in the entertainment arena has now moved into the church. The
‘James Brown effect’ is a viable tool that is being used to attract people into
the church. At the end of the day
checks are being drawn in the name of God, and God is not honoring those checks.
I exist on the outside of the
professional religious institution, that institution that I once was a part of
the inner circle until I became disillusioned with the hypocrisy that I had
become a part of. It was hard for me not
to wonder how all of this was going to play out in the Kingdom of God. As we each go about establishing our own
little kingdom here on earth would we be able to come together as the one body
of Christ. The church, as the bride of
Christ should project the teaching of Christ, but the church as a body seems to
have splintered into a disorganized body.
Was this what Jesus was referring to when he said, “in my father’s house
there are many mansions?” , but if the Saints is suppose to judge the world how
can we do that when we are so divided here on earth? Will there be a special section of the
Baptist, the Pentecostals or the Jehovah Witness? It seems as if the oneness of the bride of
Christ is a confusing entity.
The people of God were drawn to
the pageantry and the golden imagery of idol worship after witnessing one of
the greatest acts of deliverance in the wilderness. They had the audacity to address the golden
calf as the God that delivered them out of the hands of the Egyptians. There is that insatiable need to elevate and
be elevated to positions of power and respect.
The football players, the rock stars, the movie star and even the preachers
are elevated to positions of power and respect, not because of the life they
live but because of their ability to entertain the crowds. If it were announced in the local newspaper
that Bishop Somebody was speaking at a local auditorium and tickets were on
sale, imagine the turnout. Now imagine
the same scenario only replace the speaker with Minister Nobody. Remove the ticket sale, now imagine the
turnout. There are two scriptures that
come to mind, Matthew 11:7 and as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the
multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed
shaken with the wind? Luke 4:24 and he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet
is accepted in his own country.
A poster appeared on the social
media page that showed a line of people marching off into a tunnel of light,
the caption said, "Lord, I want to be in that number, when the saints go
marching in." A vision of the New Orleans
street scene filled my mind, the Jazz beat with people dancing and marching
down the street. I began a mental search of the scripture hoping to find
a verse that gave a certain amount of credence to that supposition that we were
going to go marching into Heaven. Unable to find one that was supportive
of that idea, I was left with the message of Paul to the church at
Thessalonians. This may or may not allow for that grand march. 1
Thessalonians 4:16-17 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a
shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead
in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught
up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall
we ever be with the Lord.
Next
Part #2
"A
Multi-Level-Marketing scheme"
No comments:
Post a Comment